Just by testing my new tripod out in the garden and sun, I was able to catch this latest shot, that shows, that flowers, light and a macro lens can produce near abstract photos of unseen structures. See one of my favourites:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasrubach/467283474/

Taken at f11, 1/20sec, ISO 200 on a tripod, directly in the evening sun

What really scared me when I took that photo, was the long exposure time.
I mean, I was shooting a bright object in direct sunlight (albeit late afternoon)! And an aperture of f11 is pretty wide open for a macro shot (remember: depth of field is very much limited with this kind of magnification) plus I already had ISO 200. But still only 1/20sec shutter speed Even if you have the most stable tripod, you risk that the wind moves your object and blurs the picture.

The following pic was shot under even more challenging conditions:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasrubach/468145627/Again: bright object, full sun, ISO 200, f11. Fortunately the sun this time was really bright and allowed for 1/180sec. But I really could need it, because I had no tripod this time and the wind was quite strong, shaking the leaves.

This is one reason, why I have a remote flash and also value the fine grain of High-ISO pictures with my D80 for good macro photos!

That was my trick to get this photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasrubach/476853139The wind today was blustery and I was handholding the 105mm macro - fortunately in bright sunlight: ISO 200, F16, 1/90 sec. The VR picture stabilizer took care of my unsteady hand, but it could do nothing against the shaking flower At that type of magnification 1/90 is much to long to make for sharp photos of moving objects - but I was lucky (and threw away another 3 photos that were flawed).

I set the autofocus set to AF-C meaning it was continually tracking the small variations in distance between the lens and the flower. Which is another bonus if you try to do freehand macro shots!

Has taken a while and not sure I have it right-the techii in me is a bit hard to find!!-but I hope this gives you a link to a couple of the water lilies I took last year at Pacific Harbour golf course using the S2IS on a beautiful sunny day.

Gordon and Thomas
Thanks for the comments.
I believe the diameter of the lilies would have been around 8 inches when they were opening out as you see them. Perhaps a bit more? I was about 60 feet or so from them and had the S2IS at its longest optical zoom setting (never use the digital zoom).
Have another look-while we were there I also found an amazing eucalypt that was shedding its bark. The colours and texture were something I had never seen before.
The mound at the bottom looks like an ants' nest, but I think it was actually the sap seeping out and hardening in to a solid lump.
Cheers
Bernard

BTW, any thoughts anyone on the merits of the Canon 17-40L v Sigma 17-70DC?

See Gordon's test here http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon1740Land Klaus Schroiff's test there.
It certainly looks like a fantastic lens, better than the Sigma 17-70mm (see here). The Sigma has more CA and is very soft at 17mm and has some heavy vignetting as you can see.
Plus: You can use the Canon on FF-bodies, the Sigma is only for APS-C.

On the holiday, I had real issues with the 17-40L frequently failing to focus and at other times locking on to a completely out of focus position. It did not get a lot of use in the first 2 weeks as a result.

The 70-200 had been working a treat, but what I found most interesting is that I actually used the Sigma 30mm F1.4 and the Canon 85mmF1.8 as much as the zooms. Especially on the cruise and ashore where we had plenty of murky days and poor light.

Unfortunately the 400D and the 2 L lenses were stolen in Honolulu at the start of the last week. I bought the G7 for the remainder and what a great travel camera.

Still tossing up what to replace the 400D with, may wait for a 40D or next year a 500D? Any thoughts?

I will have some pics to look at shortly.

BTW, that coloured gum tree? It is also growing in Oahu at the Dole plantation although in a much drier environment. The trees there were much less developed.

Was out in the garden this evening to shot gladiolus in the setting sun. I love htese flowers: They look so exotic to me although they even grow in Bavaria Today at least there was no wind and I could stop down the Nikkor VR 105mm/F2.8 to my hearts content (goes down to f32 or f45). The interesting thing for me was to compare the effect of different dof.
Wiht macro-shots too little dof can make the pic "uncomprehensible", giving the eye not enough to focus upon. On the other hand too much dof may make the shot plain and take away too much of the "mystery" of these beautiful plants.
So here is one of my favorites from today with a nice combination of sharp areas and out-of-focus color elements: